Prisoners could help alleviate the food processing sector's staffing crisis following the Home Office's advice to 'prioritise the investment and development of the UK's domestic labour force'.
The impact of Brexit, exacerbated in recent weeks by the Covid-19 pandemic and perceptions over career paths, has led to mass labour shortages across the entire food chain, with high-street eateries, such as KFC and Nando's closing some outlet doors to offset chicken supply issues and McDonald's running out of milkshake across all UK stores this week.
Andy Dawkins, chief executive of Avara Foods, which process 500,000 birds at its Newent, Gloucestershire site for Nando's each week, said staffing shortages, due to the number of EU nationals who have left for various Brexit-related reasons, meant the site was unable to process and pack as many birds as it normally would in the height of summer.
"We do not know how the labour situation will play out yet as we transition from a difficult system to a new operating model, but there is a real risk that the UK could end up processing less chicken than it was pre-Brexit, with longer turn arounds and fewer birds placed on farm which will inevitable reduce margins for producers," Mr Dawkins said.
With about 14,000 vacancies across the meat processing sector alone, Tony Goodger, Association of Independent Meat Suppliers (AIMS) membership communications manager, said they had spoken to the Ministry of Justice on Monday, August 23, to explore how its members could employ current inmates and ex-offenders to help address the labour crisis.
"Our members have tried to recruit from the UK's domestic labour force but have struggled which is why they now need to cast the net wider and look at ex-service personnel and prison leavers," Mr Goodger said.
"A few of our members have informed us that they already have inmates on Release On Temporary Licence working for them and find them all to be well behaved, hard-working and willing to learn, with some wishing to continue working in the food processing industry post release."
Turkey processing giant Bernard Matthews already employs prisoners on day release on its processing line, working closely with HMP Norwich to fill vacancies at its turkey processing plant in Norfolk.
